Suspect in woman's disappearance sentenced for grand larceny, fraud

David Perry, the West Elmira man long suspected in the disappearance of his former girlfriend, was sent to state prison Thursday on unrelated charges.

By Derrick Ekek@the-leader.com

David Perry, the West Elmira man long suspected in the disappearance of his former girlfriend, was sent to state prison Thursday on unrelated charges.

Perry, 49, was sentenced Thursday in Broome County Court on charges related to faking an injury and getting early retirement benefits from his job as a corrections officer at the Elmira Correctional Facility.

He was sentenced to four to 12 years on a second-degree grand larceny charge, four to 12 years on a second-degree insurance fraud charge, and 1.5 to four years on a first-degree offering a false instrument for filing charge, according to Broome County Court officials. The sentences will be served concurrently.

The offices of the state insurance fund that paid for part of his retirement benefits are in Binghamton, so that's why the case wound up in Broome County Court.

Authorities say Perry began collecting workers' compensation due to the fake injury in 2003, and then took early retirement in 2005. He later moved to Florida.

According to The Leader archives, his past came under scrutiny when Florida authorities named him as the suspect in the disappearance and presumed death of his former girlfriend, Kelly Rothwell, in March 2011. She was from the Tampa Bay area, and the couple lived together there. Their three-year relationship was described by authorities as volatile.

The day Rothwell disappeared, she had told a friend she was planning to break up with Perry.

Perry left Florida and returned to Elmira immediately after Rothwell's disappearance.

Despite a lengthy investigation by law enforcement agencies in Florida and New York, Perry hasn't been charged in connection with her disappearance. Authorities say it's still an open case, but Rothwell - a police cadet - has never been found.

Several months after Rothwell's disappearance, Perry met and married a woman from Nevada, and began using her last name. They later divorced.

During their investigation, police discovered Perry's fake injury and early retirement and charged him. They said he'd been doing numerous strenuous activities including weightlifting and windsurfing despite the supposed injury.

At one point, shortly after Perry's attorney had asked for his bail to be reduced, New York State Police investigators found $120,000 in cash during a search of Perry's West Elmira home. Noting that he'd also applied for an enhanced driver's license that would enable him to leave the country, police believed he'd been planning to flee.

While he was being held in Steuben County Jail in Bath on the larceny and fraud charges, Perry was charged with felony assault after an altercation with another inmate.

Perry's first trial earlier this year on the larceny and fraud charges ended with a hung jury. He was convicted in October following a second trial.

Perry's attorney has said police have wrongly focused their investigation of Rothwell's disappearance on him.